I wouldn't necessarily say that RPGs make bad game to anime conversions either--it's just, if someone is going to do one, they need to go all out. Like I mentioned in the review, something like 13 or 26 episodes could work. But if they're absolutely stuck at four episodes, they need to not try to tell the whole story.
My problem with the series was really less that it was blatant fanservice (Because really, do you expect anything else from a tie-in like that?), and more that it completely failed to draw me, as a newcomer to the franchise who hadn't ever played the game, into the story. I felt like I was watching a summary of major events in the game minus the narrator. I could easily see adapting the story into something interesting--perhaps not a masterpiece, but still something worth watching--if they just didn't try to cram the whole story into something so short. Some exposition would be nice too.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, for example, despite being a massive fanservice buffet, still had a self contained storyline that I (despite not having played much of FF7 either) could mostly follow. I may not have really liked the movie, although that's largely because I don't really find most of the FF7 cast to be all that interesting (oh, they're gonna lynch me for that comment), but at least the story was kept simple and open enough that I could keep up. I imagine it also helped that the story they were telling occurs after the end of the game, so they could more or less do whatever they want.
Oh, and black lincon, I rather liked Eureka 7. There were a few parts that were basically "press this button for dues ex machina," but that tends to happen in even the best of anime series (I'm looking at you, Fullmetal Alchemist). That said, I doubt we'll be reviewing it, since we are predominantly reviewing new DVD releases in the States. Unless they somehow haven't released a full collector's edition super box-set of doom yet.
